


The Strength of Bright Souls

by Pure_Grace



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: 1 maybe 2 characters give themselves up, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Best Friends, Bittersweet Ending, Blood and Injury, Brotherhood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Family, Family Feels, Friendship, Gen, Gun Violence, Heavy Angst, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm not sure if that counts but I figured better safe than sorry, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Injury, Mild Blood, Mild Gore, Minor Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Protectiveness, Tags Are Hard, They're all trying their best, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:27:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27381193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pure_Grace/pseuds/Pure_Grace
Summary: An apocalyptic zombie outbreak not only triggers the end of the world, but a series of tragic events upon five best friends. It starts with one, until only one remains. But as luck would have it, love and the bond of soulmates is a lot stronger than death. Well, mostly.
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu & Choi Soobin, Choi Beomgyu & Choi Yeonjun, Choi Beomgyu & Everyone, Choi Beomgyu & Huening Kai, Choi Beomgyu & Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin & Choi Yeonjun, Choi Soobin & Everyone, Choi Soobin & Huening Kai, Choi Soobin & Kang Taehyun, Choi Yeonjun & Everyone, Choi Yeonjun & Huening Kai, Choi Yeonjun & Kang Taehyun, Huening Kai & Everyone, Huening Kai & Kang Taehyun, Kang Taehyun & Everyone
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	The Strength of Bright Souls

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for clicking on this mini-fic of mine <3\. It's not much, but I'm oddly proud of it. 
> 
> This is the first work that I've written in the last year (minimum), and the first I've finished and/or posted on any fanfic site in two years. Maybe three, even. It's definitely not up to my previous writing standard (like, at all), but I also wrote this entire thing over a singular 10-hour period, with only a 1.5 hour break near the end. You can probably tell throughout the writing, too. There were some spots I was getting tired, and one paragraph I wrote after coming back from my break where I had COMPLETELY forgotten what I was doing and how I was writing this one. I'm still not entirely convinced that I like how I've formatted it either. Overall, it's a wild ride. I chose to write it all in one day though, because I was scared that it would become yet another half-baked idea that I lost the will to continue the next day. But! It's finished.
> 
> Aside from a quick read-through the next morning (and let me tell you, the utter RELIEF I felt after re-reading it and realizing I was still proud of it was immense), this has not been edited or proof-read in the slightest. Another thing to note is that, while I'm still learning (as well as had tabs of reference open while I was writing), my understanding of Korean honorifics and their contextual usage is miniscule. Because of that, I switched between different forms of what I HOPE were the correct honorifics, or forgoed them entirely when I felt that (based on sheer desperation as opposed to actual knowlege and understanding) it wouldn't be unreasonable for them to drop honorifics in moments of extreme anger or distress, especially the older boys. Please, PLEASE feel free to (constructively) correct me if I've used honorofics incorrectly, and need to make any adjustments to them. I'll take any assistance or advice I can get on that matter. 
> 
> Anyways, now that I've finished my list of why-this-might-be-awful-and-you-shouldn't-get-your-hopes-up (but-I-also-don't-care-because-I-adore-these-boys-enough-to-revive-a-dead-passion-I-thought-I'd-lost-forever), I hope you enjoy! Kudos for reading this far. <3

i.

There was no rhyme or reason to it. But when the gauntlet was thrown down, the pin dropped, the bomb went off… Taehyun was the first to fall. 

It made no sense. Whispers permeated the dorm’s still air, both day and night: “ _Was he outside just before it happened?” “No, he was inside. Him and Hyuka were playing a game together.” “Wasn’t he sick last month? Did that have something to do with it?” “I don’t think so… Soobin-hyung had a cold last week, and he’s okay so far.” “Is the air filter broken?” “Did he eat something bad?” “Did one of those_ **_things_ ** _find him inside the building, and we didn’t notice?”_ Who, where, when, how, _why him?_ It made no sense. 

But regardless of what they thought and the questions that built up in their brains and spilled from their lips, it happened in a slow instant: the wind blew away the catastrophic, grey-tinged gasses permeating the air. More and more of the outside world was turned to what could only be described as textbook-classic, cinematically horrifying zombies. Fires burned and explosions hailed down on the surrounding cities and neighbourhoods. Chaos, panic and despair settled into their bones and suffocated their souls. Taehyun did not get better. 

All they could do was watch. 

ii. 

Soobin watched it happen. 

He was in the kitchen, cooking a mountain’s equivalent of ramen for himself and his friends when the radio cut out, and the TV program his friends were watching shut down in the other room. “This is an emergency message,” the reporter began. That was all he registered, as the world- both his world, and the Earth outside- began its descent towards the end. Instead, he’d come to know the details of the situation more from his window looking out. From there, all five of them watched as the gas enveloped the sky, civilians fled by car and on foot, and more than a few of them were mowed down (and through; _“Oh my god, they’re eating that woman down there! Look, look, by the corner store!”)_ and came back up as something less than human. The decision that no one was to leave the apartment came easily. 

It was only a few short hours later, around 1AM, that Soobin was woken up by terrified footfalls, raised and lowered voices, and Yeonjun’s hand tightly gripping his shoulder, shaking him awake. Red alarms blared in his head, despite the fog of a restless, shallow sleep that still plagued his mind. 

“Soobin-ah, wake up. Something’s wrong with Taehyun-ah.” And wrong, so wrong, it was indeed. By the time Soobin stumbled to the second shared bedroom, the group’s second-youngest was a moaning, shivering mess on the bed. Blankets were strewn about; the ones not discarded to the floor were twisted around his legs, yet both sweat and chilled spasms plagued the young man. Red lines were criss-crossed over his forearms, face and neck from where he’d been scratching at his skin. His usual glowing pallor had dulled to an infirmed ash, and- had his eyes been open- Soobin had no doubt that the constant mischievous gleam would have been dulled as well. Tortured, low moans whistled from between Taehyun’s teeth, breaking everyone’s hearts. 

“Hyung, what do we do?” Kai’s quivering voice was the only thing that could be heard over Taehyun’s wheezing. _I don’t know,_ he wanted to answer. He didn’t. Instead, as the friend group’s de facto leader, he did what he could, what he always did: his best. 

But his best wasn’t enough, not this time. Over the next two days, desolation seeded, sprouted and flourished in his heart as, despite his best efforts, Taehyun did not get better. Under his direction they worked as a well-oiled machine day in and day out, changing his clothes, linens, replacing water basins and cool cloths, keeping him hydrated, feeding him medicine, and _“Wait, Beomgyu, don’t give him too much broth or he’ll choke-”._ Nothing seemed to help, and the young man only was lost further to the disease that was slowly stealing away one of Soobin’s best friends. 

It was on the third day that he thought- no, he knew- that he had lost. A piece clicked into place, a switch was flipped, and the threads of his bravery were unravelled. Tears built up between his lashes. _We’re losing him. We’ve lost him,_ Soobin let himself acknowledge. So as the rest of his friends helplessly settled down in the other rooms for the night, Soobin did the last thing he could possibly do: he quietly pulled a chair over to the younger’s bed, sat down with his arms resting near the other’s head, and wept. 

“I’m sorry, Taehyunnie,” he gasped, “Hyung’s so sorry. We tried so hard. And you did too, right? You always do. I’m sorry. Please come back. We need you, we’ve always needed you.” His friend shifted subtly, as his eyes began to flicker rapidly beneath his eyelids. Soobin held his breath, and hope sparked in his chest. “Taehyunnie?” 

A flash of movement. Teeth clamped around his wrist, spilling vibrant red blood. Pain, dulled into numbness as poison reached his veins. The first, startled scream erupting from his lungs, and past his lips. 

His own wide eyes locked onto Taehyun’s, and for a brief moment, he thought he saw regret tinging those black, feral irises. 

iii. 

Beomgyu watched it happen. 

His eyes shot open when Soobin’s scream echoed through the apartment, shattering the silence in which they’d all been pretending to sleep in. After one second to register the sound and another to scramble from his bedsheets, he followed Yeonjun and Kai out of the bedroom door in a desperate sprint to reach _Soobin, that was Soobin’s scream, oh god, what happened, oh god please-_. 

It was a scene he’d only let himself see in fits of sleep. Soobin stood in the centre of the room, having half-dragged Taehyun from the bed in his attempts to wrench himself free from the jaws clenched tightly over his wrist. Hot red blood cascaded from the wound, painting his hand, the carpet below, and Taehyun’s lips in the violent vermillion, as though they’d all been dipped in a can of paint. Beamgyu thought, over the ensuing panic, that he could hear bones being splintered between teeth. 

His shoulder was jostled as Kai turned tail and ran for the bathroom, shocking him back to reality in time to catch Yeonjun’s shouted order. “-old him down! Gyu, help Soobin!” Before his brain could even fully register the words, he eyes took in Yeonjun leaping for Taehyun and he spurred his own feet into action. He reached his hyung’s side in an instant, taking in his tearful, shell-shocked eyes before looking to his arm, where Taehyun’s teeth still gnawed through skin and muscle. Yeonjun had already ripped the younger… _being’s_ hands away from their leader, and was desperately trying to wrestle him away, back towards the bed in the corner of the room farthest from the door. It was working, but not quite- the grip of his jaws was too strong. So Beomgyu did one thing he’d hoped he’d never have to do: he reeled back his fist, and punched Taehyun in the side of his jaw, forcing him to release his grip on Soobin’s wrist. As their eldest threw his partner in crime to the corner of the room, Beomgyu grabbed onto Soobin’s shirt and hauled him out of the bedroom. A bedroom door slammed behind them, as Kai ran across the hall ahead of them into the living room, clutching a medical kit. 

The wound wouldn’t stop bleeding. The bandages ran out. Him and Kai weren’t allowed to enter Soobin’s room, reduced to leaning against the closed door and listening to their leader suffer a similar fate as their eldest hyung tried and failed to nurse him back to health. Of course it didn’t work. Beomgyu hadn’t expected it to, but he’d hoped anyways. 

It was on the second day after the incident that Yeonjun made his decision, and the younger two were outraged. His ears heard the words, his brain processed them, and rage filled his heart. Kai was blanched white in shock beside him. 

“What do you _mean_ ,” Beomgyu exploded, “that you want to put him in with Taehyun?! You want to- to feed Soobin to him or something?! That is _sick_ , and _twisted,_ and-”

Yeonjun raised his hands up, placating, as the grim frown on his lips deepened. “I know, Gyu-yah. I-” 

“Clearly you _don’t know,_ or else you wouldn’t be-” 

A tug on his sleeve. “Hyung, maybe you-”

“ _Enough!”_ Both Beomgyu and Kai stilled at their eldest’s outburst. Holding his breath, Beomgyu stopped, and took in shaking hands, blood-shot eyes, fear and fatigue. It radiated off of all three of them. Yeonjun continued. “I know it sounds… harsh. Bad. But I don’t think it’ll be long until Soobin-ah is… not himself anymore.” Beomgyu watched Yeonjun run a hand through his hair, the action inadvertently directing Beomgyu to look into his eyes. There was no malice. “It would be easier to keep them in the same room, when it does happen.” Beomgyu and Kai, solemn and tearful, nodded. The decision had already been made. 

Half an hour later saw them gathered outside the shut door, Soobin curled in Yeonjun’s hold while Beomgyu’s fingers tightened around a curtain rod in one hand, and the back of Kai’s sweater in the other. The maknae was trembling, shaking as he reached for the doorknob. He also wielded a baseball bat, found in one of the spare closets. There was no sound coming from inside the room. 

“Remember the plan,” Yeonjun murmured. “Repeat it to me one more time.” 

“I’ll open the door,” Kai rehearsed, as Beomgyu mouthed the words alongside him as though it were a popular song. “Beomgyu-hyung will go in first to push- push Taehyun-ah away, and I’ll make sure no one gets hurt while Yeonjun-hyung puts Soobin-hyung on the bed.” 

Their eldest hyung nodded. “Good. On three, okay? One… two… three!” The door was opened. Beomgyu rushed in, eyes locking on Taehyun. A menacing snarl burst from his friend’s lips, but he did not move. No one moved. _Why isn’t he moving?_

A collective sigh was let out, as none of the living boys were able to hold their breath any longer. Still, Taehyun did not move. Instead, the first to be broken free from the ice creeping through their nerves was Yeonjun, who gently shuffled into the room to lay Soobin on the second bed. Beomgyu watched Taehyun’s eyes as they traced their hyung’s movement, but still, he did not move. Even after the door was shut and their hearts slowed from their racing pace, no sound was heard from the other side of the door. 

“What… what just happened?” 

It was a question Beomgyu puzzled over for ages, as the sun set and the stars once again tried desperately to shine through the haze of the desolate city below. The other two were asleep, hopefully- as a precaution, still rattled from the day’s earlier event, they had decided to stand guard in shifts. Beomgyu had volunteered to go first. It had been hours since then, and from his spot on the floor he could see the deep inkinesss of the sky begin to fade ever so slightly. Someone would come to relieve him soon, he knew. _I was supposed to wake Hyung up hours ago for his shift. He’ll probably be mad._ But there hadn’t been a peep from the room at all. When he strained, sometimes Beomgyu thought he could hear shuffling coming from the room, but even that had been soft, delicate. He wanted to hear something. He had to know. A shaky breath left his lips. _Maybe I’ll just check. Before someone else comes, so they won’t know. Taehyun-ah didn’t attack before- maybe… maybe he won’t again. Does he still know us?_

He got up from his spot on the floor, rising up on aching legs. The doorknob was cold under his fingertips, shocking his palm with frigidity as he slowly turned it. He cracked the door open. Even with one eye looking into the room, he could see his best friend’s silhouette- _There, near the dresser_ . Beomgyu opened the door further. He stepped inside. Taehyun’s head slowly turned towards him, but neither moved. An exhale, a tired breath. Another step, then another, and another still. Beomgyu kept stepping further into the room, until he had passed Taehyun and stood beside the bed Soobin lay on. _So far, so good. I was right, wasn’t I?_

“Soobin-hyung,” he breathed, reaching out to poke at the older boy’s shoulder. Soobin was facing him, the waning moonlight lending its glow, revealing a palor much the same as Taehyun’s. A low growl came from behind him, and Beomgyu froze. He could see Taehyun from the corner of his eye; his soft growls lowered, fading off into silence, and still he did not move. 

Until he lunged, a loud, vicious snarl ripping through the air. Beomgyu’s breath clogged his throat, his nerves and brian on fire, and watched as his friend charged across the room. The angry glint in his eye. The outstretched hands- no, claws. He hardly noticed the teeth that were embedded in his _leg, oh, that’s my_ **_leg, Soobin-hyung bit my leg._ ** A gust of wind blew past him, shifting his bangs, as Taehyun continued to fly at him, push past him, and slammed into Soobin behind him. _He’s attacking hyung, not me._ As his brain caught up with him and all that was happening, his ears picked up rushing feet coming towards the door, the open door- until Beomgyu raced, tripped, and slammed into the door. Slammed the door shut, trapping himself inside. Two sets of fists pounded at the door. 

“ _Beomgyu! Beomgyu, open the door! Get out of there!”_ Behind him, Taehyun continued to push Soobin down, snarling at the elder. Keeping him restrained. As they fought against one another, Beomgyu quivered against the door. 

“It’s okay,” he said, not daring to raise his voice louder than the snarling yet loud enough for his friends to hear him clearly. “Hyung bit me, but… but Taehyunie’s holding him down. They’re not hurting me.” 

For a moment, it was quiet on the other side of the door. “B-Beomgyu-ah... “ 

“I… I should stay in here, right? I’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.”

Silence, both in volume and in tears, from both inside and outside of the room. 

iv. 

Huening Kai watched it happen. 

The attack came from behind, afterall; Yeonjun didn’t see it coming. Kai doubted he could see anything, now, except maybe the blood running down his face. 

It had been a week since the incident with Beomgyu, a week since Kai and Yeonjun had sat outside the closed bedroom door, crying and hiccuping as their friend remained on the other side, slowly dying. He’d update them every so often. _“Soobin-hyung has seemed to calm down. Taehyun-ah has backed off, too.” “They’re moving around a bit, but staying away from me.” “Even from inside, it’s so quiet. You’re quiet too, Ningning… it’s okay.” “Hyungie, I’m getting tired. You’re still there, right?”_ They stayed there all day, into the night, and through until the next dawn. The other side had been quiet for a while, then. 

Eventually, the food and supplies had begun to run low. Even though it had only been two of them, the apartment hadn’t exactly been prepared for an apocalypse. After nearly a week of silence, the remaining two spending most of the time in the living room trying to comfort each other, reality set in. They had to leave their bubble and brave the outside world, or surrender themselves to death one way or another. 

“We’ll go at night, alright? Just stay with hyung, Kai-yah, and we’ll be okay,” Yeonjun had reassured him, the older boy rubbing Kai’s shoulders and arms in comfort. “Stay alert, stay together, stay quiet.” 

It had gone well. A part of Kai had expected to be ambushed as soon as Yeonjun opened the front door, but the hallway had been empty. It remained like that throughout the rest of their floor; though they heard the occasional bump, thud or shuffle come from inside other units, no threat came to them. Kai wasn’t sure if the other residents were dead or hiding, but never before had he been so relieved to have reclusive neighbours. 

They continued to take the stairs all the way down to the main floor, and followed the back corridor around to the other side, which let them avoid the lobby and took them directly to the emergency back exit. Easing the door open had felt like a wailing megaphone, announcing their arrival to the outside world, taking them away from safety and free for the eating. But inch by inch the door had opened, and no attention had been brought to them. As soon as he had eased the door closed, using a small rock to prevent it from locking behind them, Kai felt Yeonjun grasp his sleeve in his hand. _Stay alert, stay together, stay quiet._

The road had cleared a bit, but not nearly as much as they’d been hoping. Stray zombies shambled across the area, bumping into objects and each other, and filling the still night air with low groans, moans and growls. It was something Kai had only heard in video games, or in the horror movies the group of best friends would all watch sometimes on their weekly movie nights. _It’s nothing in comparison to real life,_ he noted duly. A soft hand on his arm reeled his attention back into the alley they were turning down. 

“Let’s go up the ladder on the building up ahead, to the left,” his hyung had whispered into his ear, “there’s some zombies further ahead in the alley, and if we just go slow and gentle we can get up onto the building without much noise. Then we can just jump until we get to the corner store’s roof. They’re all really close together.” A twang of mirth shot through him; _Now I feel like I’m in some sort of game that Taehyun-hyung liked to play sometimes._ The irony didn’t escape him. Before his thoughts could slip away any further, he tip-toed down the alley until he reached the ladder, and began to climb. He cringed when it would creak, and looked down to see Yeonjun below him, grimacing, but motioning for him to keep moving nonetheless. Nothing had been alerted just yet. 

In five minutes, Kai was staring down into the corner store, the rooftop access door open and waiting for them to jump down. Despite it being less than a week since the world-ending ordeal began, the shop had seen better days. The glass storefront had been smashed in, littering the floor in sparkling shards. Blood splattered the walls, though only one body could be seen motionless by the cash register. Some of the shelving units had been knocked down, wares toppling over and spilling out. Regardless, there still seemed to be enough supplies there to last them a while. 

“Remember to grab as many non-perishables as you can, alright? I’ll find the medical supplies.” 

“Got it. Meet you by the back exit, hyung.” Kai locked his pinky with Yeonjun’s, and jumped. 

He could pinpoint the moment it had all gone wrong. The worst part was that it wasn’t even their fault. After a few minutes of rummaging around the store’s food aisles, Kai had almost completely filled his bag when Yeonjun had joined him, all the medical supplies the store had in his own bag, and the two continued their food collecting. A low creak from an aisle behind them made them freeze. Kai counted the seconds of silence. _One… two… three… four… fi-_ A crash, one of the shelves collapsing to the ground, metal on cheap laminate flooring. It echoed throughout the building, no doubt reaching out to the street. There was only one single moment, before one, two, three, four, twenty zombies rushed and ravaged into the store, the corpse by the cash register reanimating, and five more to come flooding in from the open back door. 

“Shit, _run!”_ Kai hadn’t needed any more encouragement. He bolted for the only door left available: the manager’s back office. His shoulder lanced with pain as he rammed into the door, forcing it open, but opening it nonetheless. Yeonjun was only a half-second behind him, slamming the door and leaning his body weight against it as bodies piled up on the other side, pushing, scratching, _budging, the door is opening, Yeonjun-hyung can’t keep it closed for long-_ “Kai! Move the bookshelf over here!” His feet skid against the floor in his haste to obey, and foot by foot Kai shoved the heavy wooden bookcase across the office floor. _Just a little more, almost there, a little more!_ “ _Kai!”_

Glass shattered. For one brief, almost blissful moment, he thought it had been the storefront. Or perhaps one of the side windows had broken. All it took was one glance up to know that he was terribly mistaken. The glass pane of the office door had been punched through, fractures spreading like cobwebs, and two grisly, gorey hands had broken through. And before the glass had even finished falling to the ground below, the zombie’s claws scratched- no, mauled- at his hyung’s eyes. Yeonjun’s pained scream filled the small office, reverberating around the walls and in Kai’s ears until it drowned out the snarls and imprinted the sound into his brain. 

“ _Hyung!”_ He gave the bookcase one last enormous shove, pushing it into place as Yeonjun collapsed forwards, hands coming up to cover the upper portion of his face. Blood seeped between his fingers. The bookcase held. Kai bolted around to kneel in front of Yeonjun, putting his hands around the elder’s wrists. “Hyung, hyung look at me- please- open your eyes-”

“I ca- I can’t- Hyuka I _can’t_ -” he gasped, choking on a wail as the pressure irritated the wounds over his eyes and face. Kai could barely hear his sobs over the ruckus building up outside the room. 

“Okay, okay it’s- don’t worry, hyung I’ll get us out of here, I’ll… I’ll find a way out.” Still gripping onto his suffering hyung, Kai looked desperately around the room. _Unless we wait for a few hours, there’s no way we can get out of the room using the door. They might not even leave, and then we’d just work them up all over again. We don’t have that kind of time anyways. There’s no other door…_ His eyes latched onto the sole window of the room. _There!_

The door burst open, revealing a quiet apartment. Kai savoured the moment, his heart still racing and lungs still screaming from the run back to the building. After managing to shove the window open, Kai had forced Yeonjun out the window before leaping out himself. The plan was half-successful; though the zombies from the alleyway had been attracted inside the store from the commotion, some of them had been drawn out by the sound of their landing, and the two boys had raced to the apartment at full speed, the zombies right on their heels at the worst times and a few metres behind at the best of times. Kai never let go of Yeonjun’s hand, guiding his blinded hyung around the debris on the ground and pulling him back up when he tripped, always keeping them just out of death’s reach. He’d barely had enough time to slam shut the emergency exit to the apartment building before the sound of bodies hitting metal echoed through the hallway. It drowned out the sound of choked whimpers and dripping blood, a sound now prevalent in the empty space. 

“Hyung, Yeonjun-hyung, we’re back home. It’ll be okay, you’ll be fine…” He continued the mantra, leading Yeonjun to the living room before digging into the elder’s backpack, pulling out their newly acquired medical supplies. _Bandaids, thank god._ Turning to their original kit, which had remained splayed out on the coffee table, he found gauze, disinfectant, anything he thought would help. Kai steeled himself. “Okay, hyung, I need to see your face…” 

Another thud against the wall. Kai groaned, still furiously washing his hands in the sink. He’d laid Yeonjun to bed an hour ago, but no matter how much soap, or how much scalding or freezing water, he could still see the blood on his hands. He could still picture the bleeding gashes, the torn eyelids, the small hints of his hyung’s left eye peeking through when his eyes should have been closed. The stitching, the screaming, the disinfectants, the tears, the blood, the blood, the blood. 

And the damn thudding from the other room. Ever since he’d returned home with Yeonjun in tow, the three behind the closed bedroom door had been relentless, pounding against the walls and the door, screeching and- to Kai’s weary ears- nearly wailing. It was as if they wanted out for the first time since the beginning, and Kai was both scared and curious to see what they’d do if they got out. _Do they want to comfort hyung? Or kill him?_

It was a question that played on loop, repeating through Kai’s head as several days passed. The thudding and banging never stopped, nor did Yeonjun seem to get any better. If he was being honest, Kai had no idea what he could do. What he should do. And, most importantly, what he would do if he had to give up on his last hyung, and live the rest of his undetermined time alone. It wasn’t a subject he liked to think about often. This time was different, though, than the fate of his other hyungs. Yeonjun hadn’t been bitten, as far as he knew. Scratched, yes, but they had no idea if that made a difference or not. His skin, though pale and damp, hadn’t taken on the grey and ashy tone nor texture the others’ had, and he’d most certainly laid more prone and silent than the others. But the fever had persisted, and the furious red lines that ran beneath the scabs of his facial wounds seemed to be expanding, travelling across his face in highways and road maps. An infection. Kai wasn’t quite sure how to treat those, nor if the elder boy could survive them. 

A crash came from behind him, wood splintering and bodies toppling. Kai froze from where he had been perched on the sofa, head lost in intangible queries and concerns. Holding his breath, he rotated his head to the right. There, at the start of the hallway, his three other hyungs stood. Liquid nitrogen raced through his brain and body, freezing him in place and bringing his brain grinding to a halt. _They got out,_ he examined lightly. Kai stayed where he was on the couch, statuesque, as Beomgyu, Soobin, and Taehyun righted themselves, sluggish and off-kilter, before they simultaneously looked further down the hall. At the one occupied room that remained, the door wide open should Kai have needed to be by Yeonjun’s side in an instant. Kai’s eyes widened just as his friends- bloodthirsty, flesheating, undead friends- made a bolt for the room. _Hyung’s room, they’re- no, wait, Yeonjun!_

It was the name, flashing through his mind like hot lightning, that shocked him out of his trance. Socks sliding over the smooth floors, he raced after the trio, mind, heart and feet pounding. _Please, not yet, I have to get there first, I have to be faster-_ . His fingers latched onto a jacket ( _Soobin-hyung’s,_ his mind supplied) just as his feet hit carpet, and he yanked backwards. The body went flying behind him, giving Kai an opening, the only one he needed to put himself between Yeonjun and the others. Kai spread his arms open wide, tears blurring his vision. 

“ _Hyungs!_ ” Don’t,” he pleaded, “please, please don’t take him. I need someone here, _anyone_. You weren’t supposed to leave me alone.” Wet eyes widened further, and snarling quieted down. No one moved. “I can’t be alone. Please give me more time with Junie-hyung, please...” 

Through the haze of salt water, he thought he saw concern. Concern, sadness, regret, all in void-black eyes he’d known so well. The windows had changed colour, but the inside was still the same. 

v. 

Yeonjun watched it happen. 

When consciousness returned and bandages came away cleaner each time, he dared to try and open his eyes. _It’s sticky,_ was his first thought, _and flakey too._ And when he slowly blinked and looked, for the first time after an endless sleep, he realized the uppermost left side of his vision was gone, replaced with a void. He could see, however, that there were four sets of eyes watching him. 

The alarm was instantaneous. As was the warm, human hand that shot out and covered his mouth as he moved to speak. Kai’s anxious face took centre stage. “Yeonjun-hyung, I know you’re probably worried or something, but don’t freak out! It’s okay!” 

Yeonjun gaped, his lips free from his dongsaeng’s palm. “Don’t freak out? Kai-yah-” 

“They’re fine, see!?” The younger boy waved his hand frantically, motioning to the rest of their friend group. As Yeonjun turned, craning his head slightly farther to hold them all within his vision, he could almost swear he was back in time, faced with the power of his four friends’ doe eyes, pleading innocence for whatever dastardly task they most certainly had done. Kai continued on his right. “They… they broke out of the room while you were sick. I was scared they’d try to bite you or something, but when I yelled, they stopped. They listened, hyung.” A pause, and a small pink tongue darted out over nervous lips. “I think they’re still in there, somewhere. Soobinie-hyung, Beomgyu-hyung, and Taehyunie-hyung. They were all really worried about you, too.” 

Yeonjun covered his eyes, and laid back on the bed. “Aish…” If his heart swelled with hope, there was no one to prove it but himself. 

Over the next few weeks, as his recovery was on the incline and rations ran low, they were faced with the need for another trip to the outside. Neither of the boys were excited nor willing, given the previous attempt. As if sensing the energy of the room, their three companions shifted about more restlessly, whispers of sound passing between their lips in upset hisses. 

That was another thing that Yeonjun had learned to live with, alongside his slight change in vision. The other boys, though distant and unreachable in inhuman ways, caused no harm. They did not attack, provoke, nor radiate any hint of malice. If Yeonjun was honest with himself, in the deepest nighttime hours, he thought he could see their souls shine through their dull eyes sometimes. _Maybe they’re less gone than I thought._ Another thing that had changed, too, was their cabin fever. Any time himself and Kai made the brave attempt to leave the apartment, one- if not all three- of their friends would try to join them, dogging at their heels, sticking feet and fingers in the doorway to keep it from closing, or sometimes waiting for them by the door, eager to go. 

Kai watched them thoughtfully, picking at the cuff of his sleeve. Yeonjun could practically hear the gears turning in his head, and the hesitation on his breath. “Yeonjun-hyung, maybe we should take them outside with us?” 

“And do what, let them roam free? They might never come back, Kai-yah. That, or they might attract others and lead them right back here.” A sigh came from the youngest, sounding equal parts frustrated and forlorn. 

“Shouldn't we give them the choice, though?” Yeonjun paused. It hadn’t occurred to him, right from the very beginning, to let them go. He had kept them tucked away in that one particular bedroom, keeping them a safe distance away yet still within reach. Even if they were gone in his mind, physically, he still had them with him. He still needed to take care of them. _Let them… go?_ Kai spoke up again, as if sensing his dilemma. “Even if we just take them outside with us for a bit. They always seem to come to us when we yell or something, right? We could probably bring them back home with us. Let’s just try it.” And finally, for the killing blow: “Please, hyungie?” 

Yeonjun caved. It was a decision he wasn’t sure if he regretted or not, only three hours later, as Kai lay bleeding out in his arms. 

The other three fought viciously, holding their ground in a circle around their eldest and youngest. Fellow zombies came from each side, drawn in by the sounds of gunshots and fresh blood, skin and muscle. Yeonjun focussed on his dongsaeng- their maknae, _their baby_ \- and tried not to let the panic render him useless. 

“Shh, you’ll be okay, Kai-yah, we’ll get out of this. You’ll be okay. Hyung’s got you.” The nearby sound of flesh being ripped apart, making the younger boy flinch as hot tears streamed down his face. Blood continued to drip down onto the concrete, both at the perimeter and the centre of the circle. 

“Hu-hurts, hyungie it _hurts-_ ” Yeonjun shushed him once again, running a thumb over his cheek to brush away the onslaught of tears. He resumed putting pressure on the wound, unintentionally making the other yelp once more.

It had been a fellow survivor, of all things. They’d been walking down a side street, all huddled together should something stray too close (it had already occurred once, and the sight of their three best friends bearing down on another zombie to protect them was something he’d never forget the sight of). A cracking sound had come from above, and a small metal projectile ricocheted off a wall near Soobin’s head. Two, three more came, one glancing off of Taehyun’s shoulder. Yeonjun had jerked his head up to the nearest rooftop that Taehyun had begun snarling at, to see the silhouette of a living, breathing human staring down at them, gun in hand. 

“ _Yah!”_ He had shouted, forgoing volume control in sheer desperation. “They’re not hurting us! Cut it out!” If there had been a reply, it was stolen by the raging winds. What he knew for sure, was that the silhouette turned, pointed his gun at Beomgyu, and fired. 

Except that Kai had seen him aiming too, and had moved much faster. What had intended to be a killing shot hit the younger straight in the chest, sending him tumbling back into Beomgyu and Soobin’s bodies. He went down, just as- like Yeonjun had cautioned- zombies flooded towards their street, bearing death. But as the other three shifted into what could only be described as a fighting stance, Yeonjun stared at death which bore the face of a bullethole. Kai looked back up at him, already paler than the moon on a clear night sky. 

“Kai-yah, look at me- look at hyung, okay? Focus on me. We’ll get you out of here soon, and-”

“ _Hyung,_ hyungie I don’t- I don’t think I-”

“ _Don’t say it, Huening Kai!_ Look, the boys are almost done. There’s less coming, see? And the boys are okay. They’ll finish soon, and we can get you home and patched up and you’ll be _fine_ it’ll be _okay_ just _keep looking at me Kai-yah don’t you dare!_ ” And despite desperate wails, no more zombies came running to take them from the land of the living. A metal bullet had been faster, and Kai would no longer open his eyes. Yeonjun stuttered, choking on tears and failure. He had failed them all. “Please… Ningning, I’m sorry…” 

The sudden ringing in his ears was abated by dragging footsteps, and he jerked his head up to see corpses, piles of slain corpses, and his three friends shuffling back towards him. They were each bloodstained, with scratches, gashes, and missing skin that hadn’t been there before. But they moved, and they watched with devastation in their eyes and low croons sailing past their lips. Beomgyu stumbled, landing in front of Yeonjun and Kai. There was a question in his abyss-like eyes. 

Yeonjun nodded, the world becoming grey once more. Beomgyu bent down, closing his teeth gently on Kai’s shoulder. 

vi. 

Taehyun watched it happen. 

The moment he had opened his eyes once more, he knew there was something wrong. His body wasn’t his own, but it was. He felt the worst he ever had in his life, but he felt nothing. He had no thoughts, aside from _food, prey, kill, eat_ , which intensified tenfold when his eyes locked on Soobin ( _close, close, bite)_ , who sat so still and so vulnerable while so close to his mouth. He had no control. But he had, even if only in part, kept his soul. And with his soul came the resonation that he shared so closely with his friends- no, his _brothers._ These brothers of his that he held so dear, connected so deeply with, that the emotions came not from his head nor his heart, but with his entire being. 

It expanded his vocabulary. His eyes took in Soobin clenching his teeth down on Beomgyu’s leg- following that same instinct; his soul hadn’t woken up yet, not yet, but it would come in moments- taught him new words: _brother, bad, protect, hold, safe._ The power of those words kept his rebellious body from continuing the assault, from joining his leader in consuming their brother. And it kept him away, tucked in a corner, as his partner in crime bled out against the door until he joined them in the state of almost-nothingness. 

The next time, while it was a putrid scent of vulnerability and disease that drove them to breaking down the door, it was the concern radiating from his soul that stopped him from adding Yeonjun to their ranks. _Sick, helpless, hurt, hyung._ Kai, their sweet little Kai, only added dirt to the dying flames of temptation. _Young, scared, sad, sad, sad._

_Sad_ turned into _pain, bleeding, dying, rage,_ and from there, with a last note of _protect, kill_ , he let his soul rest back, and the body of destruction and death took over. A mantra, a loop, a cycle: kill this one, kill that one, kill those ones. _Protect brothers._ Yet when his body turned around and his eyes focussed, his soul cried out in earth-shattering despair to see that the youngest one would not make it. That time, it was Beomgyu that brought Kai into their fold, and Yeonjun who led all five of them back home. 

From there, Taehyun continued to watch. He watched as Kai was shut off in the other room, kept away for a week until his soul awoke from death’s clutches. And when he was released, he stumbled towards them, bumping into them in the closest semblance of _hug_ he could manage in that moment. ( _Hug_ was one thing his soul yearned so deeply for, but his body would refuse him. For now, perhaps.) 

He watched as their eldest hyung lived on. He lived, his hair grew, his body thinned, and his eyes lost the warm shine that Taehyun could still picture so clearly in the eyes of his soul. _Leaving, worry_ . Sometimes, he’d leave; usually he’d bring the rest of the group with him, other times not. It was the time when he wouldn’t bring the others, coming home with new injuries and bloodied knuckles instead of supplies, that Taehyun’s soul would run purple- red anger and frustration, blue sadness and concern. _Hurt, sad, hurt._

The words built up. _Food, prey, kill, eat, close, bite, brother, bad, protect, hold, safe, sick, helpless, hurt, hyung, young, scared, sad, pain, bleeding, dying, rage,_ _hug, leaving, worry,_ and many more with each passing day. But no matter how many words his soul brought back into his arsenal, there was one missing. Until one day, their eldest hyung reminded them all. 

It was a _leaving_ day. Yeonjun had opened the door, and motioned for everyone to follow. But instead of going down like they normally would (something Taehyun liked, as their stumbling and falling would bring an elusive _smile_ to Yeonjun’s face), they went up. Up, and up, and up until they reached the roof. The wind buffeted their hair and clothes. Yeonjun sat down in the middle of the roof, and motioned for them all to do the same. Sitting was still something that his body refused to remember. So as Yeonjun sat, the others sprawled around him in various states and positions. _Cuddle pile,_ their souls remembered. _Happy, safe, good_ . A human hand landed in his hair. _Pet, very good._

“You know,” their last living member started, before trailing off. A series of moans answered him. “I thought I’d be okay like this. From the start, really. Even if you guys weren’t… you, exactly, I could comfort myself by having what was left of you around. Because I thought to myself, ‘at least if you’re here, I can look at you and be happy with our memories’.” He paused, and his hand stilled. Taehyun pushed himself up, as much as he could. _Sad, worry, tears._ Tears were slipping down Yeonjun’s cheeks, and- oh, that just wouldn’t do. The other four crowded in, plastering themselves all over him. It seemed to do something, as a huff of laughter left his lips (it had been so long since Taehyun heard a _laugh_ ), and his voice regained itself. “I was wrong. You probably knew that, right? You guys always knew when something was wrong, even without saying anything.”

A deep breath in, a deep breath out. “Let’s be the same again. I don’t know what it’s like, but if I’m with you guys, it doesn’t matter. There’s no real tomorrow without you.” 

Their hyung, their eldest hyung, laid down on the roof as the stars blinked into the sunset sky, bringing light to the end of a long day. Taehyun’s body leaned, and his teeth clamped down gently on the last living neck. Come daylight, none of them were alive, but they weren’t dead. And the difference between them and the hopeless corpses that wandered the street was that their souls hadn’t died with their bodies, and with their souls came their _love_. And together, as five, they faced a new tomorrow.

-=+=-

**Author's Note:**

> They barely lasted a month. Bonus fact: up until the second this was posted, the working title on my Googe Doc for this mini-fic was 'Mini Baby TxT Zombie Thing Rawr.' A superior title, in my opinion.


End file.
